Fall is a somewhat unpredictable season. It's never quite clear exactly what's going to hit with audiences, and as a result we regularly see studios throwing anything they can at the wall and hoping something sticks.

Though adapted from a book, the movie had only a few cards on which to sell its audience: mild horror; Jack Black and Cate Blanchett; and Roth trying his hand at something a little more mainstream than, say, the Hostile movies.